Only way is up for Adcock after two National titles

Chris Adcock believes this is just the start of his 2014 dominance as he left the English National Badminton Championships with two titles to his name.

Heading into the tournament in Milton Keynes, the pressure was on Adcock to deliver in both the men’s and mixed doubles, seeded number one in both events.

And he didn’t disappoint, beating Chris Langridge and Peter Mills 21-18 21-11 in the final of the men’s doubles alongside Andrew Ellis.

But Adcock wasn’t done there, going on to lift the mixed doubles title alongside wife Gabby, getting the better of Langridge and Heather Olver in the showpiece this time.

In truth, few would have expected any different with the Adcocks having climbed to number five in the world rankings after winning the Hong Kong Open in November.

But Chris insists that turning up and winning is easier said than done, especially when everyone wants to know you off your perch.

“We’ve come into the tournament with not much to gain, we’ve got a big target on our backs in both events,” he said.

“But it’s a great feeling to win the English Nationals as it always is. We’ll use it as a building block to hopefully go on to bigger and better things.

“We’re not looking back, we’re looking forward and we’ve got to make sure we leave a good history and even more titles to come.

“We got our last Superseries title in Hong Kong but we’re not thinking about that, we want to use that to gain more and more.

“We are not happy with one, we want to go on and get as many as we can. It’s very tough but we believe we can do it.”

Chris wasn’t the only Adcock to celebrate two titles this weekend, wife wife Gabby also winning the women’s doubles alongside Lauren Smith.

The number two seeds beat favourites Olver and Kate Robertshaw 21-10 21-19 in the final.

Sarah Walker was crowned women’s champion as she beat Elizabeth Cann in the final, while Rajiv Ouseph beat Sam Parsons for a seventh-straight men’s crown.

“It’s quite nice to see someone else in the final, it’s great for some of the younger guys to come through,” Ouseph said.

“I’ve seen Sam come to Milton Keynes a couple of times for training and he’s played really well this week. For him to beat Toby [Penty, second seed] in such a close match in his semi-final shows that he’s got a lot of character.

“I know that singles is a very individual event, but we all need to work together in this country to bring the level up together.

“As the oldest and the best at the moment it’s up to me a little bit more, but I’m looking for these guys to keep pushing me and do well internationally in the next couple of years.”